DC could lose the Funk Parade, but there’s still hope

For five years, the DC Funk Parade has transformed several empty lots and streets in Shaw into a sea of funk and soul, bringing together people from all walks of life into a neighborhood historically known for promoting black culture. However, on March 6, Funk Parade organizers Chris Naoum and Justin Rood announced on Facebook that the parade may not happen, despite an early start in organizing volunteers, performers, and vendors.

Why? In this WAMU article, Naoum and Rood say there aren’t enough vacant lots now that there are more developments throughout the Shaw and U Street Corridor. Rood’s statement on the underlying forces driving this potential cancellation of the festival was even more pointed.

“This is a conversation that’s much bigger than Funk Parade,” he said to WAMU. “We don’t see the kind of investment that I think a city needs in the human environment, and in building communities that are resilient, where people know each other, and where they see their commonalities more than their differences.”

The festival, which is run by a 501c3 nonprofit group, has always depended on the support of smaller donors and small business in-kind donations. Naoum and Rood are still taking those kinds of donations at their crowdfunding page, and have said if they make their $60,000 shortfall, the festival will go on. So far, the festival has raised more than $14,000 there. On Monday, indie music store Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center announced it would match all new crowdfunded donations.

However, if the festival is in trouble now, it could be in even more trouble next year as more property is developed and costs for community events like these continue to rise.

What do other cities and neighborhoods do?

While I have not attended the Funk Parade, I grew up going to a number of free civic street festivals in my hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina including a similar one called CityStage. It was put on by our local arts council and had a number of nonprofit, business, government and other community partners. Everyone in our small city of about 150,000 people seemed to attend, and the festival was one of the key things that brought us together as a community.

This festival started, like the Funk Parade, with a group of people interested in producing free concerts for the community and later garnered institutional support and operations. However, institutional support dropped and the last festival was produced in 2001. One of the key organizers passed away in 2004.

Another nonprofit group also closed off core streets and the handful of surface parking lots and urban park areas in Downtown Greensboro to produce the annual Festival of Lights, the First Friday of December, and Fun Fourth celebrating the Fourth of July.

These festivals brought people downtown in an era when it was largely abandoned. However, even now with lots of new retail, residential, and park activity in Downtown Greensboro, these festivals still manage to carry on and serve a lot of people with activities and family fun. These festivals have also survived leadership and financial challenges, partly because they are embedded in the fabric of the city.

A major shift in festival culture in Greensboro happened when the National Folk Festival came in 2015. Organizers used this opportunity to create the NC Folk Festival, bringing back some of the spirit and musical focus of CityStage downtown after the festival’s residency concluded in 2017. The 2017 National Folk Festival brought approximately 160,000 people downtown to see 54 acts and 300 artists. The organizers are committed to keep putting the festival on free of charge, with the same amount of attendance, performers, and artists.

Locally, Adams Morgan Day has gone through a number of changes but was able to raise money via ioby to put on last year’s festival. The organizers said they needed to raise more money to close down streets, and to pay for permitting and staffing for those closed streets.

The Funk Parade tries to pay all performing artists fairly. Other festivals, both local and beyond, don’t necessarily have that mandate. Also, the Funk Parade doesn’t charge admission fees, instead relying on donations from those who are willing and able. District government entities also support the festival financially.

What could DC do to preserve the Funk Parade?

Continuing to close down U Street and other neighborhood streets in the area would help with festival space and traffic flow. Columbia Heights closes a portion of 11th Street for their community festival — when I attended last year, I found that it improved the Saturday streetlife of the area. We could all spread out from the various bar and restaurant patios and enjoy other vendors and performances. Street closures would also help show how resilient we are at finding other ways besides our cars to navigate the District.

Additional Shaw-centered Funk Parade venues could include Howard University, whose campus has a number of plazas, parking lots, and the dog/skate park on the corner of Rhode Island Avenue and 11th Street. These areas already absorb some activities during the day, but having more street closures would help.

This is not the first time the Funk Parade has crowdfunded, but $60,000 is the largest amount organizers have ever needed to raise. Having a clearer projected budget, as well as alternatives for venues and their payment, would also serve the group well. Some Redditers suggested the parade and festival split, but work together to ease operations and fundraising.

Street festivals are one the key ways I’ve developed my urbanism over the years. They help communities band together, especially in the face of changing demographics and loss of other cultural spaces. I hope that we get to enjoy another Funk Parade.